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REMARKS ON THE NAMES OF TOWNSEND HARBOR, 
MASSACHUSETTS, AND OF MASON HARBOR AND 
DUNSTABLE HARBOR, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



At a meeting of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, held in Boston on Thursday, February 13, 
1896, Dr. Samuel A°.''Oreen said: — 

Near the beginning of the present century there was a group 
of three villages, far from the sea-coast, lying in the same 
general neighborhood, on the northerly side of Groton, of 
which each bore in part the name of Harbor. They com- 
prised the villages of Townsend Harbor, Mason Harbor, and 
Dunstable Harbor, situated respectively in the towns of 
Townsend, Massachusetts, and of Mason and Dunstable, New 
Hampshire. Two of these towns are adjacent to each other; 
and Dunstable, the third town, now known as Nashua, is but 
a short distance away. Of these several villages, Townsend 
Harbor is the only one which continues to bear the name. 

So far as my knowledge goes, these are the sole instances in 
New England where the word " Harbor " is connected with 
the name of a settlement away from the coast-line, or from a 
large body of water, like the village of Centre Harbor on Lake 
Winnepesaukee. 

Names of places all have a history of their own, connected 
in some way with the neighborhood, though often the origin 
of the name is wrapped in obscurity. It is never beneath the 
dignity of an historical writer to throw light on disputed sub- 
jects and to clear up doubtful points even in trivial matters. 



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The question iiatuially arises, Why were these three villages 
called " Harbors " ? As the local antiquaries do not agree in 
their answer, I purpose to let tliem speak for themselves. 

Mr. Ithamar B. Sawtelle, in his History of Townsend, gives 
some facts concerning a pioneer of that town, and then goes 
on to say : — 

Nothing further is known of him except that he was in charge of a 
log-house made in a defensible manner against losses by the incursions 
of the Indians. One of these castles was located north of the Harbor 
and overlooking the same, and another near the meeting-house on the 
hill, and the same tradition further saith that the log-houses and mill, 
where the Harbor now stands, and tlie direct surroundings were called 
" the Harbor,'^ because by signals from these three points, in case of the 
appearance of any " red skins," the settlers could soon reacli these 
places of safety (pages 61, 62). 

Mr. John B. Hill, in his Centennial Address at Mason, 
alluding to Mason Village, says in a note : — 

Then called the Harbor. A word of explanation of this term may 
not be deemed out of place. In the early settlement of the country, 
towns were laid out upon the scM-coast, on which in many of them 
there was a bay, cove, or mouth of a river, used as a harbor for vessels. 
The meeting-house, where town meetings were held and public business 
transacted, was at the centre of the town, but it often happened that 
the '• Harbor" was the principal if not the only mart of trade in the 
place. And when, in an inland town, a locality on its border became 
the principal mart of trade, it was known by the same name of Harbor, 
as Mason Harbor, Townsend Harbor, Dunstable Harbor. (Proceedings 
of the Centennial Celebration at ]Mason, August 26, 1868, page 42.) 

On June 28, 1872, Mason Milage was incorporated as a 
separate town imder the name of Greenville. 

Dunstable Harbor was a small settlement on the south side 
of vSalmon Brook, near its confluence with the Merrimack 
River. At one time in the eaily part of the century the 
local Post-office Avas established there. Allusions to the place 
are found in Charles J. Fox's " History of the Old Township 
of Dunstable " (pages 193, 195, and 270). 

On January 1, 1837, the name of the town of Dunstable, 
New Hami)shire, was changed by legislative enactment to 
Nashua, now the second largest city in that State. 






It will be noticed that Mr. Sawtelle and Mr. Mill do not 
agree in their theories as to tlie origin of the name ; and I 
shall not attempt to decide between them. There is no 
account on record that Townsend was ever seriously threat- 
ened by the Indians, — with possible exceptions during tije 
years 1747 and 174^, — though the inhabitants of the town in 
early times may have taken precautionary measures to ward 
off the attacks of the enemy. Within a short time Mr. Saw- 
telle has written me that formerly there was a tradition that 
the village was first called " Tory Harbor," on account of the 
number f)f tories living there during tlie Revolution ; but he 
is inclined to doubt it, as there were so few of that class in 
the immediate neighborhood. Perhaps the present designa- 
tion is a survival of j)art of this name. In the town of Clare- 
mont, New Hampshire, there is a locality known to-day as 
"• Tory Hole," from the fact that it Avas a place of favorite 
resort for tories in Revolutionaiy times. 

All these so-called Harbor villages are situated on small 
streams: Townsend on the Squannacook River, where there 
is a mill-pond ; Mason on the Souhegan River, where also 
there is a mill-pond ; and Dunstable on Salmon Brook, near 
the ^Merrimack River. Townsend Harbor is the oldest of the 
three settlements ; and the name maj' have been carried, by 
example or through imitation, thence to Mason, which is 
onh' a few miles distant. T am inclined to think, however, 
that its origin was due to a poi)ular fancy then existing 
in the neighborhood of giving the additional name of 
"Harbor" to villages of ambitious hopes. 



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